February 2012
131 posts
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Exhibit shows Pompeian life before Vesuvius' wrath
The Roman populace near modern day Naples, Italy, was left frozen in the throes of death and hidden for nearly 1,700 years. The fate of Pompeii is one of history’s enduring tragedies, and now the excavation site has grown into one of the most popular tourist attractions in Italy.
That’s the story you know. But there’s one you don’t.
Thanks to a special collaboration between the University of...
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Oldest instrument is dug up in Skye cave
The remains of what could be the oldest stringed instrument to be found in Europe have been discovered in a remote cave on Skye.
The burnt fragment was dug up last year during an archaeological project. It is believed to be at least 1,500 years old and pre-dates any similar item previously found on the continent.
The artefact, which resembles a bridge of an early stringed instrument, was...
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Ancient incense burner discovered in Ha Tinh...
The cylindrical ceramic incense burner is 50 cm high and 30 cm in diametre, weighing 5 kilograms.
The antique piece has masterful decorations of unique and beautiful patterns, eight-petal flowers, two phoenix and dragons. It has a tiger head shaped-relief work on it as well.
According to experts, the ancient incense burner dates back to the Le Dynasty. (source)
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Cairo Airport authorities foil smuggling attempt
The Antiquities Seizures Unit (ASU) arrested a British couple trying to smuggle 19 artifacts dated to different archaeological eras at Cairo International Airport on Sunday.
Hassan Rasmi head of the ASU said that these objects include five clay and green faience ancient Egyptian Ushabti (funerary figurines) each nine centimeters tall, clay pots with human-shaped heads, Late Period lamps...
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Iceman's DNA reveals health risks and relations
The world’s most famous frozen corpse has had his genome sequenced. An international team has today published the almost complete DNA sequence of Ötzi the Tyrolean Iceman in Nature Communications, and has found clues as to the whereabouts of his closest living relations.
Hikers discovered Ötzi’s 5,300-year-old body in the Alps near the Italian–Austrian border in 1991. It was well preserved, and...
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Tomb exploration reveals first archaeological...
The archaeological examination by robotic camera of an intact first century tomb in Jerusalem has revealed a set of limestone Jewish ossuaries or “bone boxes” that are engraved with a rare Greek inscription and a unique iconographic image that the scholars involved identify as distinctly Christian.
The four-line Greek inscription on one ossuary refers to God “raising up”...
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Pre-Famine rock dwelling unearthed
Volunteers from a Tús project stumbled upon pre-Famine-built houses while clearing scrubland in Skibbereen. Cork’s county archaeologist, Mary Sleeman, said she was very enthusiastic about the prospects of the site at Windmill Rock, which overlooks the town. “I have visited a lot of vernacular houses in the county and we have mud houses and stone-built houses bonded with bulls’ blood and...
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Google Ancient Places digs into the past
An exciting new project exploring how people in the past viewed the geography of the ancient world, has been backed by $50,000 grant from Google, Inc. via its Digital Humanities Awards Program.
Google Ancient Places (GAP) is developing a Web application which allows users to choose a classical text or book (from between 500BC – 500AD) and then search for references to ancient places within it,...
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Exploration of mythical David and Goliath battle...
This summer, Tel Aviv University’s Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology is adding another excavation to their already expansive list of seven active digs. Azekah, a city of the ancient kingdom of Judah that features prominently in the Bible — both as a main border city and the fortification which towers above the Ellah valley — is the site of the legendary battle between David...
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Spain rejects Peruvian claim to shipwreck treasure
MADRID (AP) — Spain on Monday rejected Peru’s claim to a huge multimillion-dollar undersea treasure recovered from the wreckage of a ship that had left from Lima’s port more than 200 years ago.
Spain recovered the nearly 600,000 coins — mostly silver but a few made of gold — on Saturday after they were flown to Madrid from the United States. That marked the culmination of...
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Making a boat fit for a king
Giza plateau was crowded on Monday as journalists, TV anchors, photographers and antiquities officials flocked to the northern side of King Khufu’s Great Pyramid to witness Japanese scientists and archaeologists taking samples from different parts of Khufu’s second solar boat, which is still buried in sand after 4,500 years. The boat’s wooden beams are to be subjected to...
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Slavery research at Poplar Forest shows...
Before archaeological work began at present-day Poplar Forest to probe the history of Thomas Jefferson’s retreat home, digging was common among the Bedford County plantation’s slave inhabitants.
With space scarce within their overcrowded quarters, Jefferson’s slaves would dig into the dirt floors to carve out pits for themselves. They stored personal belongings and food in the pits and hundreds...
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Woman finds ancient artifact in baby shark
MALACCA: A baby shark being prepared for lunch gave a family here a big surprise - an ancient artifact believed to be dated long before the Portuguese conquest of Malacca.
Housewife Suseela Menon, from Klebang, made the priceless discovery while filleting the fish for lunch.
It is believed to be a medallion worn by the Portuguese soldiers, presumably as a divine protection, during their...
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Stolen Ancient Mayan Artifacts Being Returned To...
BALTIMORE (WJZ)– It didn’t take Indiana Jones to crack the case, but what federal agents recovered would have been right up his alley.
Alex DeMetrick reports ancient Mayan artifacts were returned Friday to their rightful owner.
Some go back a thousand years, all fashioned by Mayan craftsmen well before Columbus. All are going home.
“We are eager to take these artifacts back to Guatemala and...
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Ancient Arabic writings help scientists piece...
Ancient manuscripts written by Arabic scholars can provide valuable meteorological information to help modern scientists reconstruct the climate of the past, a new study has revealed. The research, published in Weather, analyses the writings of scholars, historians and diarists in Iraq during the Islamic Golden Age between 816-1009 AD for evidence of abnormal weather patterns. Reconstructing...
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Ancient cave speaks of Hades myth
Hades wasn’t the happiest place, the Department of Motor Vehicles of the ancient Greek afterlife.
There, in a gloomy underworld, departed heroes such as Achilles gathered mostly to grouse about their boredom, and await the verdict of the judges of the dead.
“I would rather be a paid servant in a poor man’s house and be above ground than king of kings among the dead,” said...
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3,000-year-old shipwreck shows European trade was...
The vessel, carrying copper and tin ingots used to make weapons and jewellery, sank off the coast near Salcombe in Devon and is thought to date from 900BC.
But it was only last year that the South West Maritime Archaeological Group, a team of amateur archaeologists, brought its cargo to the surface.
The discovery was not announced until this month’s International Shipwreck Conference,...
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Copper beads spring a surprise in Megalithic...
As part of the second phase of excavation of the Megalithic sites in the district, more earthen burial urns (nannagadis) have been unearthed near Ramakkalmedu.
The excavation is being done as part of the “Discovering Idukki” project of the district panchayat to preserve the historical remains in a heritage museum to be opened at Painavu.
A major discovery at the excavation done on Saturday by a...
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Secret Renaissance Letter Reveals Plan to Save...
A newly discovered document, written by one of Europe’s most famous philosophers, Thomas Hobbes, reveals a plan that, if successful, could have turned the tide of one of England’s bloodiest wars.
In the words of Hobbes, the plan would prevent the “ruine of the English nation.” The document was written during the height of the English civil war, a series of conflicts...
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Archaeological site a window into past
An archaeological investigation at Oihi Bay, site of the earliest permanent European habitation in New Zealand, is revealing some fascinating details of life in the Bay of Islands in a very different era.
The investigation is a joint project between the University of Otago and the Department of Conservation.
Kerikeri Doc historic ranger Andrew Blanshard, Otago University professor of...
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Bronze age hoard found in West Wales farm declared...
A BRONZE Age hoard thought to have been buried more than 3,000 years ago as an offering to the gods was yesterday declared treasure after being found on a Welsh farm.
The collection of 13 bronze artefacts, including part of a bronze bracelet, fragments of a large bronze spearhead and a complete bronze socketed axe, will go on public display after the declaration by the coroner for...
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Digging for Artifacts Along Road in Prince...
A grassy area along a busy roadway in Prince George’s County is now the site of an archaeological dig.
Specialists from the Maryland State Highway Administration are working along Annapolis Road (Rt. 450) in Bladensburg near the public library.
Officials said several prehistoric and 19th century artifacts recently were found there. By law, they can’t begin work on a new...
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BLACK SWAN SHIPWRECK TREASURE COMES TO END
A fabulous sunken treasure recovered from a Spanish wreck in the Atlantic Ocean is flying back home from the United States ending a five-year legal battle.
The treasure was put aboard two Spanish military C-130s planes. They took off Friday from a Florida Air Force base with 595,000 silver coins and other gold aboard. They are expected to land in Madrid’s Torrejon Air Base after a 24 hour...
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1,000-Year-Old Game Board Found in Mexico
Archaeologists carrying out restoration at the Dzibilnocac site in the southeastern state of Campeche discovered a Mayan game board dating from more than 1,000 years ago, Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History said.
A member of the team that found the artifact, Heber Ojeda, estimates the board was used between the 7th and 10th centuries during the Late Classic period of...
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Dig finds evidence of first MacKillop schoolroom
Archaeologists at a dig in South Australia believe they have pinpointed the exact site of Mary MacKillop’s first school.
Mary MacKillop - Australia’s first Catholic saint - set up her first school in a stable at Penola in the state’s south-east in 1866.
A dig led by Flinders University Associate Professor Heather Burke has been taking place for artefacts in the town.
...
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Eureka man pleads guilty to stolen artifact...
A Eureka man pleaded guilty Thursday to possessing seven antique Native American basket hats that were stolen — and later recovered — from the Blue Lake Museum last month.
Carter Daniels, 30, pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of stolen property, according to the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office.
Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested...
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Profit or preservation? Debate rages over Titanic...
EUGENE, Ore. — The Titanic captivated the world when it sank in 1912. And it’s continued to fascinate for generations. Now, $200 million-worth of Titanic treasures are up for auction April 15th—100 years to the day after the ship set sail.
But as the centennial approaches, a Eugene archaeologist, said he strongly objects to the removal and auction of the artifacts from the ship.
“I don’t...
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MSU students peer into Nubian bones' secrets
EAST LANSING — The hole in the cranium and the crack spreading from it are clear signs the person died from a violent act.
The skeleton is one of 409 medieval Nubians now residing in a small laboratory at Michigan State University. Researchers say that person likely was stabbed with a sword. But the rest of the skeletons don’t offer as many obvious clues.
Figuring out how those people...
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Widow loses suit to regain Native American...
A five-year battle over the ownership of a prehistoric Native American tablet might not have ended yesterday when a Franklin County jury ruled that the archeological treasure belongs to the Ohio Historical Society.
The widow of Edward Low, a Reynoldsburg man who discovered the object as a boy but died after filing a lawsuit to reclaim it, wept outside the courtroom and said she’ll appeal the...
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STONE AGE PEBBLE HOLDS MYSTERIOUS MEANING
A colorful pebble bearing a sequence of linear incisions may be the world’s oldest engraving.
The object, which will be described in the April issue of the Journal of Archaeology, dates back approximately 100,000 years ago and could also be the world’s oldest known abstract art. It was recovered from Klasies River Cave in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.
Associated human...
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Scientists find 4500-year old temple in Ur in Iraq
Iraqi and foreign archaeologists have uncovered a temple at the Sumerian city of Ur, which dates back to about 2500 B.C., the head of the Antiquities Department says. So far the scientists have uncovered one of the walls of the temple along with numerous graves from the same period, said Hussein Rashid.
Ur is one of ancient Iraq’s most fascinating cities. It has given the world priceless...
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Greek museums to increase security after thefts
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s Culture Ministry says it is taking extra security measures at museums across the country after two major thefts in as many months netted antiquities andpaintings by 20th-century masters.
The ministry said Thursday that a task force set up to review security at museums and archaeological sites recommended increasing surveillance at archaeological museums,...
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Rare Opportunity to Hear about Excavation of...
The N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh presents a rare opportunity to hear firsthand about the 2004 discovery and subsequent excavation of the ancient Harbor of Theodosius, the principal port of Byzantium or Constantinople, in present-day Istanbul, Turkey. Dr. Ufuk Kocabas, Director of Istanbul University’s Department of Marine Archeology and the Yenikapi Shipwrecks Project, will present a...
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Bronze Age hut found on Lipari
Lipari - Italian archaeologists found a Bronze Age hut during construction work in a town square on the southern Italian island of Lipari. Roman-era Hellenistic slabs were also unearthed, archaeologists said. Lipari, a strategic port throughout history and now a popular holiday resort, is the largest of the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the north coast of Sicily. The island’s...
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Armenian archeologist finds colossus of pharaoh...
An Armenian archeologist found alabaster colossus of pharaoh Amenhotep III.
The colossus was discovered by Gurik Suruzyan during the excavation of Amenhotep’s temple in the western part of Egypt’s Luxor.
The experts think the finding is a northern clone of Colossus of Memnon and is made of stone carved in Hatnub quarries.
According to the archeologists, the statues fell as a result of an...
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Unique runestone included in UNESCO list
A unique runestone that is the first to mention Norway as a country and that documents the establishment of Christianity there, has been placed on a list of world heritage documents of international importance.
The “Kuli Stone” is the oldest object in the newly launched register of Norway’s list of documents to be included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World programme. The programme is an...
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'Little Horny Man': Rock Carving of Giant Phallus...
A stick figure man with a giant phallus dubbed “the little horny man” by its discoverers is the oldest rock carving found yet in the Americas, researchers say.
These findings might shed new light on when the New World was first settled, scientists added.
The time frame during which humans first reached the Americas remains hotly debated. One key to settling this controversy would...
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Archaeologists find pebble floors
The discovery of pebble-paved floors at archaeological sites provide a glimpse into how the ancient Chamorro people lived.
“What is so significant, unique and exciting about these pebble pavings is, … for a long time people have speculated that there aren’t enough latte stones to accommodate the large population on Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands. People had to be...
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Ancient tracks are elephant herd
Seven-million-year-old trail of fossilised footprints in the Arabian desert was left by a herd of ancient elephants, according to scientists.
Researchers say the “trackways” reveal that animals that left them had a rich and complex social structure.
Just like modern elephant society, this consisted of family herds and of solitary male animals.
The study is published in the Royal...
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Ancient plants back to life after 30,000 frozen...
Scientists in Russia have grown plants from fruit stored away in permafrost by squirrels over 30,000 years ago.
The fruit was found in the banks of the Kolyma River in Siberia, a top site for people looking for mammoth bones.
The Institute of Cell Biophysics team raised plants of Silene stenophylla - of the campion family - from the fruit.
Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of...
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Four unknown shipwrecks found
Four previously unknown shipwrecks have been discovered some 30 kilometers off the Bay of Irakleio, Crete, in recent underwater exploration conducted by the ephorate of underwater antiquities.
The new finds comprise two Roman era shipwrecks, one containing 1st and 2nd-century Cretan amphorae and the other containing 5th-7th century post-Roman era amphorae, and two shipwrecks containing Byzantine...
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Privatizing Albanian Castles Worries Heritage...
Illyrian and medieval castles in Albania could be soon turned into bars and restaurants according to a government plant to lease cultural monuments to local businessmen.
According to the plan unveiled in late January by the head of Albania’s Institute of Monuments, Apollon Bace, some 40 monuments would be leased for a period of up to 100 years, mainly because the government is unable to preserve...
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Archaeologists Excavate Magnificent Monumental...
A line of fallen ancient columns remain in place today, undisturbed, configured exactly where they fell after a massive, devastating earthquake destroyed this city on January 18th, 749 C.E. They appear as though the event had happened only yesterday. Images of ancient Pompeii come to mind. But this was not Pompeii.
Known as Antiochia Hippos (Hippos meaning “horse”, or...
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Archaeologists discover Jordan's earliest...
Archaeologists working in eastern Jordan have announced the discovery of 20,000-year-old hut structures, the earliest yet found in the Kingdom. The finding suggests that the area was once intensively occupied and that the origins of architecture in the region date back twenty millennia, before the emergence of agriculture.
The research, published 15 February, 2012 in PLoS One by a joint...
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Scientists Turn to Archaeology for Clues to...
Global concerns about climate change, economic turmoil and cultural upheaval have often generated worldwide discussion through a variety of forums. For a number of scholars and scientists, some of the answers are being sought by looking at the archaeology of past societies to determine how they coped with change. Two scientists at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the...
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Excavating What Jefferson Left Off His Maps
Archeologists at Monticello are digging up what Thomas Jefferson left off his maps.
The Archaeological Research Manager at Monticello Sara Bon-Harper said, “We’re getting the information here that we would need if we were able to reconstruct Mulberry Row.”
Since September, six Monticello archaeologists have been digging into a 20 foot excavation to find the actual location...
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Wooden sarcophagus is unearthed at Egyptian...
Encased in soil, this extraordinarily delicate face emerges into the sun for the first time in thousands of years.
The wooden sarcophagus was unearthed by archaeologists at the necropolis of Qubbet el-Hawa in Aswan, Egypt.
Believed to contain the body of a person of some rank, it boasts extraordinarily delicate features, well-preserved by the sands of time.
The piece was found by a team from...
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Bronze Age burial site at Fiddler’s Hill...
The distinctive Bronze Age landmark at Fiddler’s Hill has been transferred to the ownership of the Norfolk Archaeological Trust (NAT) for a token value of £1.
The agreement will mean improvements to public access and historic interpretations at the 4,000-year-old site, which lies next to a crossroads on Binham Road, between Binham and Warham.
Prehistoric human remains, burnt flints and...
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Magic Sounds of Peru's Ancient Chavín de Huántar
New findings of a recent archaeoacoustic study suggests that the ancients of the 3,000-year-old Andean ceremonial center at Chavín de Huántar, in the central highlands of Peru, practiced a fine art and science of manipulating sound with architecture to produce desired sensory effects. With the assistance of architectural form and placement, and sounds emitted from conch-shell trumpets, the...
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Fossilized Pollen Unlocks Secrets of Ancient Royal...
ScienceDaily — Researchers have long been fascinated by the secrets of Ramat Rahel, located on a hilltop above modern-day Jerusalem. The site of the only known palace dating back to the kingdom of Biblical Judah, digs have also revealed a luxurious ancient garden. Since excavators discovered the garden with its advanced irrigation system, they could only imagine what the original garden might...